Strobe lights are well-known products. A number of technologies are possible for use in strobe lights. Gas discharge strobe lights find particular application for emergency vehicles, radio towers, photography, and entertainment venues. Such conventional strobe lights utilize incandescent or gas light sources. Incandescent and gas source strobe lights have relatively high energy consumption and short lifetimes, which results in higher maintenance costs. Gas discharge strobe lights may be more susceptible to breaking, may produce ozone due to high voltage requirements, and produce ultraviolet light that breaks down many materials. Further, such strobe lights have complicated electronics used to maintain the flashing operation.
Another type of strobe light uses high intensity discharge (HID) lamps. Light is produced by high intensity discharge lamps when an electric current arced between two closely spaced electrodes in a sealed quartz-glass or ceramic capsule, known as a discharge tube, arc tube or burner, containing a vapor of metal and gas. Free electrons in the arc collide with the metal atoms in the vapor exciting electrons of the metal atoms to a higher energy state. When the excited electrons return to their original, lower energy level, electromagnetic radiation is emitted having a wavelength determined by the energy level of the electrons and the constituency of the vapor into the capsule. Compared to filament-type halogen lamps, HID lighting typically produces light more efficiently and with a color temperature more closely approximating that of sunlight. Unlike an incandescent lamp, an HID lamp does not immediately illuminate when the power is supplied to the lamp. While initiating operation of an HID lamp takes considerable time, the time required to re-strike (restart) an extinguished lamp is typically longer, and commonly twice as long as the cold startup interval. For these and other reasons, strobe lights that use HID lamps are less desirable in many applications.
Opportunities exist for improving strobe light technologies.